Drama > N Drama

How many stars does it take to do Dickens?

Advantages: A beautifully fresh presentation
Disadvantages: Some poor "English" accents

...A brief plot outline Nicholas Nickleby is dead. (This seems to be a theme of how Dickens starts his novels!) But we are not concrned with that Nicholas Nickleby, it is his son ... young Nicholas Nickleby who is the hero of our tale. After his father's suden death leaving his family with little money the young Nicholas goes to his uncle in town for advice. As you can imagine the uncle is loaded but does not help the Nickelby's at all. He manages ...
...Hall. Now Nicholas is warned that this school is not pleasant by an old friend of his fathers but he goes none the less. When he arrives at Dotheboys he is greated by malnourished, down trodden young boys who seem closer to death than receiving a good education. In particular the young boy Smike is the Headmaster's servant boy and often beaten. As you can imagine Nicholas is there to become the boy's saviour and helps Smike to escape. He then beats ...

nkemp_99 03.02.2007 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Nicholas Nickleby (DVD)

Often Overlooked But One Of Hitchcock's Best

Advantages: Great performances, story, direction, camara work
Disadvantages: None

This film is hugely under-rated in the Hitchcock filmography. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains this film must rank amongst one of the best thrillers of it's time, and any other for that matter. Why it is not spoken about in the same breath as North by Northwest or Night of The Hunter is a mystery to me. The film contains the perfect balance between dark thriller and dark romance and reaches a nail ...
...father commits suicide and in an attempt to prove her allegiance to the US cause agrees to be enlisted by US secret agent Devlin (Grant) to court and marry neo-nazi Alexander Sebastian (Claude Rains) in order to monitor Nazi activities. Sebastian learns that his wife is a spy and reluctantly through pressure from his mother he agrees to kill her. Realising her danger, Devlin, now realising he is in fact in love with the woman he formerly loathed, ...

Nixu1980 10.11.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Notorious (DVD)

Not such a flip-flop for those who like hip-hop

Advantages: acting
Disadvantages: nudity

WHAT IS IT ABOUT: The Notorious B.I.G (aka Christoper Wallace) took the US rap world by storm in the early 90s before being killed in a drive by shooting in 1997: this is his story. WAS IT ANY GOOD: As someone who has a 'bit' of knowledge of the early roots of the Hip Hop scene, I knew a bit of this story anyway, but certainly not enough that I could claim to be an expert. The film, starting with Biggie's death then flashing back to tell the story ...
...On the one hand, it offers a fairly interesting showcase of the workings of the Hip-Hop industry, from recording studio sessions to the trappings of wealth; in many ways, it's like the movie The Temptations, except with crack and a whole lot of gold! So, for those interested in the genre, it's educational in some senses, giving an almost 'behind the scenes' style look at the world of rap. The major events that took place in the life (and death) of ...

bruffyboy 07.04.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Once (DVD)

The life and times of Biggie Smalls

Advantages: Well presented biographical film
Disadvantages: Nothing special

The Notorious B.I.G./Biggie Smalls/Christopher Wallace took the world by storm with his music in the 1990s. From his days on the streets as a drug pusher, right up to the moment where he was shot and killed in 1997, Notorious portrays his life in this biographical film that is well presented and pulls no punches. We start off with the fateful night where he was killed, and at the point of the gunshot, we are transported back through time to when ...
...film describes every major point of the rapper's life, including the highs and lows, the loves of his life, his friends, his enemies, and does it all in a flowing and interesting way. The cast do a good job, with Jamal Woolard leading the way as Wallace. He performs the music very well, and gives a realistic impression of the artist. Angela Bassett is strong as BIG's mother, with relative unknowns playing stars such as Puff Daddy, Tupac Shakur, ...

pmcds 29.09.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Notorious (DVD)

A mans life needs at least 1 hour of our time

Advantages: Cleverly worked out
Disadvantages: Not action packed - some might find boring

BEWARE! THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS AND PLOTLINE! THE STORY The story starts with a young man of 18 on trial in court for murder. His life is in the hands of the jury of 12 men. If he is found guilty, he will be executed. All 12 must agree on a verdict. We learn that the boy is accused of killing his father. The father hit the young boy frequently and the prosecution see this as the motive. A witness who lived opposite boy and the father ...
...knife and an old man living below said that he heard the boy shout "I'm gonna kill you" before he heard something fall to the floor above. The old man ran to his door and says that he saw the boy running away. However, the boy says that he was at the cinema during the stabbing and did not return until 3 hours later where upon he was arrested. The men go into a room to decide if the boy is guilty or not. The men decide to take a preliminary vote. ...

rufusredcoat 31.12.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Twelve Angry Men (DVD)